Chapter 21 Section 3

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Transcript of Chapter 21 Section 3

Chapter 21 Section 3:Central European Monarchs ClashThe Thirty Years WarLutheran and Catholic princes tried to gain followersStates Form in Central EuropeThe most important result of the Thirty Years War was that it marked the beginning of the modern state system in EuropePrussia Challenges AustriaLike the Hapsburgs, the Hohenzollerns had ambitions of becoming absolute rulersEach side felt threatened by the Calvinists who were gaining many followersTensions mounted. The Lutherans and the Catholics each formed unions:The Protestant UnionThe Catholic LeagueOnly a small spark was needed to ignite a full scale holy warBohemian Protestants RevoltHoly Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, closes some Protestant churches in the Czech Kingdom of BohemiaThe closings anger the Protestants and they revoltFerdinand II sends an army to Bohemia to crush the revoltSeveral German princes took this opportunity to challenge their Catholic emperorThus began the Thirty Years War, a conflict over religion and territory and for power among the European ruling families.Hapsburg TriumphsThroughout the first 12 years of the war, Hapsburg armies from Austria and Spain crushed the troops hired by Protestant princesThe Czech uprising was crushedEven the German Protestants who supported the Czechs were defeatedFerdinand II paid his army of 125,000 men by allowing them to plunder German villages.This huge army destroyed everything in its path.Hapsburg DefeatsProtestant Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his army help shift the tide of war towards the ProtestantsAdolphus and his army drove the Hapsburg armies out of northern Germany before Aldolphus was killed in battle in 1632Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin of France took over from there and dominated the remaining years of the war.Although Catholic, these Cardinals feared the Hapsburgs more than the Protestants.So Cardinal Richelieu sent French troops to join the German and Swedish Protestants in their struggle against the Hapsburg armiesPeace of WestphaliaThe Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ended the war.The treaty had these important consequences:Weakened the Hapsburg states of Spain and AustriaStrengthened France by awarding it German territoryMade the German princes independent of the Holy Roman EmperorEnded religious wars in Europeintroduced a new method of peace negotiation in which all participants meet to settle problems of a war and decide the terms of peace*This method is still used todayBeginning of Modern States...The treaty abandoned the idea of a Catholic Empire ruling over most of Europe.The treaty recognized Europe as a group of equal, independent states.The formation of strong states in central Europe was a slow process due to the devastation brought on by the war.The major powers of this region were the kingdom of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.None of which were very powerful in the mid-1600'sEconomic Contrasts with the WestWestern EuropeCentral EuropeSerfs slowly won freedom and moved to townsSerfs joined middle-class townspeople and gained economic powerLandowning aristocracy passed laws restricting the ability of serfs to gain freedom and move to citiesNobles wanted to keep serfs on the land, where they could produce large harvests which they could then sell for large profits to western EuropeSeveral Weak EmpiresPolish nobility elected a Polish King but sharply limited his powerThe Ottoman Empire had been on the decline since Suleyman the Magnificent had failed to win the Battle of Vienna in 1529The Holy Roman Empire was seriously weakened by the Thirty Years War.No longer able to command the obedience of the German states, the Holy Roman Empire had no real power.In the late 1600s, two German-speaking families decided to try to become absolute rulers themselves...Austria Grows StrongerThe Austrian Hapsburgs took several steps to become absolute monarchs:Reconquered Bohemia during the Thirty Years WarWiped out Protestantism in Bohemia and created a new Czech nobility that pledged loyalty to themAfter the war, the Hapsburg ruler centralized the government and created a standing army. By 1699, the Hapsburgs had retaken Hungary from the Ottoman EmpireIn 1711, Charles VI became the Hapsburg ruler.Maria Theresa Inherits the Austrian ThroneCharles the VI persuaded other leaders of Europe to sign an agreement that declared they would recognize his eldest daughter as the heir to all his Hapsburg territoriesThe Hapsburgs wanted to make sure they continued to rule over all of the empireThat heir was a young woman named Maria TheresaThe HapsburgsThe HohenzollernsIn 1640, Frederick William, later known as the Great Elector, decided that having a strong army was the only way to ensure safetyThe Great Elector created the greatest standing army in Europe.80,000 menTo pay for this army, they established permanent taxationThey then weakened the representative assemblies of their territoriesPrussia's land owning nobility, the Junkers, resisted the king's growing powerHowever, King Frederick William I bought their cooperation by giving the Junkers the exclusive right to be officers in his army.Prussia became a rigidly controlled, highly militarized societyFrederick the GreatFrederick the Great was forced to witness his friend's beheading after they tried to run away together when they were teenagersIt was feared that he would not be strong enough to rule over PrussiaHowever, Frederick II followed his father's military policies when he came to power, despite bitter memoriesHowever, he did soften some of his father's laws:Encouraged religious tolerance and legal reformBelieved that a ruler should be like a father to his peopleWar of Austrian SuccessionSoon after Frederick II took power in Prussia, he decided to go after Austria's land of SilesiaSilesia produced:Iron OreTextilesFood ProductsFrederick the Great underestimated Maria Theresa's strength because she was a woman.Frederick sent his army to occupy Silesia, beginning the War of Austrian SuccessionMaria Theresa traveled to Hungary and asked the Hungarian nobles for aid.Great Britain also joined Austria to fight its longtime enemy, France, which was Prussia's allyMaria Theresa's armies stopped the Prussian aggression, but she lost Silesia in the process in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748With the acquisition of Silesia, Prussia became a major European powerThe Seven Years' WarMaria Theresa decided the French kings were no longer Austria's chief enemies, so she made an alliance with them.A diplomatic revolution took place:Frederick signs an alliance to Austria's former ally, Great BritainRussia began playing a role in European affairs by signing an alliance with AustriaAustria, France and Russia vs. Britain and PrussiaIn 1756, Frederick attacked Saxony, an Austrian ally, starting the Seven Years War in which every great European power would be involved.Fought in Europe, India and North AmericaThe war did not change the territorial situation in EuropeBritain emerged as the real victors in the Seven Years' War:France lost its colonies in North AmericaBritain gained sole economic domination of India1618-1648

THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR

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Modern day Czech Republic

Catholic RulerProtestant Majority

Map by Astrokey44

BOHEMIA

DEFENESTRATIONof Prague

A FANCY WORD FOR THROWING SOMEONE OUT OF A WINDOWDEFENESTRATION

Photo Credit: DigitalExtropy

70 Feet!

They better recognizeFATHER OF MODERN WARFARE

Cardinal Richelieu

Politics Over Religion

POLITIQUE

DOMINIONS OF THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG

1648

PEACE OF WESTPHALIA

Lets not kill each other over religion anymoreYes, tis silly!What he said!